ZIP 72540 vs ZIP 72561

This side-by-side compares ZIP 72540 (Guion, AR) and ZIP 72561 (Mount Pleasant, AR) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 72540 has a population of 149 at 3 people per square mile, while ZIP 72561 has 981 at 7 per square mile. That difference in population size and density alone reshapes how every other metric should be interpreted — a higher-income ZIP with 1,200 residents behaves very differently from one with 45,000.

On income and education, ZIP 72540 reports a median household income of $38,603 against $71,916 in ZIP 72561, with per-capita income of $18,795 vs $29,030. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 11.4% in 72540 and 28.5% in 72561. Poverty rate reads 43.4% vs 16.9%, and unemployment 52.2% vs 0.5% — these four fields alone drive most of the difference in the scorecard grades you will see for each ZIP.

Housing separates these two ZIPs further: median home value sits at — in 72540 versus $265,600 in 72561, with median rent of — and $494 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 44.7% vs 89.3%. When reading the comparison table below, focus on paired metrics rather than single winners — a ZIP with lower home values and lower income is not strictly "worse" if rent-to-income ratios and commute times land in the same zone. Every value is pulled from the exact same ACS table so the two columns are genuinely comparable.